Comment is free + John Lennon | The Guardianhttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/commentisfree+music/johnlennon
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Why are comedians, not musicians, talking 'bout a revolution? | David Harvie, Brian Layng and Keir Milburnhttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/may/12/comedians-musicians-revolution-russell-brand-beppe-grillo-neoliberalism
In the twilight of neoliberalism it's comics such as Russell Brand and Beppe Grillo who puncture establishment thinking. Will pop ever become political again?<p>In the spring of 2013 we wrote an article about emerging problems of post-crisis political organisation. We sensed, in particular, the disquieting possibility that a populist icon might spark an anti-political movement. To find a new angle on this potent prospect we turned to the figure of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rise_and_Fall_of_Ziggy_Stardust_and_the_Spiders_from_Mars" title="">Ziggy Stardust</a>. We weren't sure this would resonate. With austerity entrenched and popular movements scarce, perhaps our problem was out of time. Did we compound this untimeliness with a metaphor drawn from 40-year-old pop history? Perhaps we were falling prey to the trend for retro-mania and its eclipse of the present with nostalgia for our past.</p><p>And then, from nowhere, we heard a voice calmly pointing out that the emperor was wearing no clothes … Russell Brand, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YR4CseY9pk" title="">interviewed by Jeremy Paxman on Newsnight</a>, punctured the illusion that the time for change was past. Paxman repeatedly tried to drag Brand back within the traditional boundaries of political debate, but every time Brand refused. Instead he was able to raise again those wider, more fundamental questions of environmental disaster, global poverty and capital's incessant desire for &quot;growth&quot;. When Paxman eventually asked, &quot;You don't believe in democracy; you want a revolution, don't you?&quot;, Brand replied, &quot;The planet is being destroyed, we are creating an underclass, we're exploiting poor people all over the world, and there are genuine, legitimate problems of the people not being addressed by our political class.&quot;</p><p>And suddenly it felt like the most natural, normal thing in the world to be talking about a revolution …</p><p>While digital technology appeared to lay the foundations for a more democratised production of culture, the reality is that popular culture is less truly &quot;popular&quot; than it has ever been …</p><p>So when Brand spoke, it resonated in a way that few others could manage. It wasn't just what he said but the tone in which he said it … </p><p>For all the hype about social media bringing people together, our everyday experience tends to be one of dispersal and atomisation …</p><p>When we use Ziggy Stardust to think through the problem of populist icons aren't we leader-shipping Bowie?</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/may/12/comedians-musicians-revolution-russell-brand-beppe-grillo-neoliberalism">Continue reading...</a>PoliticsPop and rockRussell BrandBeppe GrilloJohn LennonPunkOne DirectionEconomicsSocietyMon, 12 May 2014 13:30:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/may/12/comedians-musicians-revolution-russell-brand-beppe-grillo-neoliberalismMark Nolan/WireImage‘There are genuine, legitimate problems of the people not being addressed by our political class.' Photograph: Mark Nolan/WireImageMark Nolan/WireImage‘There are genuine, legitimate problems of the people not being addressed by our political class.' Photograph: Mark Nolan/WireImageDavid Harvie, Brian Layng and Keir Milburn2014-05-12T13:30:00ZIn praise of… doomsday | Editorialhttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/19/in-praise-of-doomsday
It takes a certain something to keep going after being proved wrong, wrong and wrong again<p>Imagine all the people, living for today. John Lennon sang the words, but Harold Camping – who <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-25424916" title="">died last weekend</a> at 92 – did something about it. He predicted the world's imminent end so regularly that you could almost set your watch by it. <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/18/us/harold-camping-radio-entrepreneur-who-predicted-worlds-end-dies-at-92.html?_r=0" title="">Invoking scripture and a 7,000-year-old clock</a> which he said had started ticking as the rains closed in on Noah, the edict to live every day like your last came and went ahead of 21 May 1988, again with the publication of his book 1994?, and yet again in the run-up to 21 May 2011. After the fire and the brimstone failed to show up, he set his next and final doomsday as 21 October of that same year, but this time pencilled in a lower-key affair, in which the world would end not with a bang, but a whimper. It takes a certain something to keep going after being proved wrong, wrong and wrong again. But then doomsayers have a comfort that few forecasters do: they really do know they will be <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2465563/Will-world-end-2032-Ukrainian-astronomers-discover-massive-asteroid-hit-earth-power-2-500-nuclear-bombs.html" title="">right in the end</a>.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/19/in-praise-of-doomsday">Continue reading...</a>World newsJohn LennonMusicThu, 19 Dec 2013 21:16:11 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/19/in-praise-of-doomsdayEditorial2013-12-19T21:16:11ZIs there no end to the morbid business of pop memorabilia? | Lanre Bakarehttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/nov/14/morbid-pop-memorabilia-john-lennons-school-detention-records
Once you've bought John Lennon's school detention records or Eminem's derelict house, where do you go from there?<p>You've bought the deluxe 20th anniversary LP reissue, scoured eBay for that almost mythical piece of tour merchandise, now why not show utter devotion to your favourite band by paying over the odds for some of their completely mundane and slightly morbid personal possessions? That is the rather head-shakingly odd situation that music fans are being faced with in 2013, as more personal effects of usually deceased rock stars have started making their way on to internet auction sites. There were a lot of double takes at the news that a <a href="http://www.spin.com/articles/ian-curtis-kitchen-table-ebay-suicide-joy-division-buy/" title="">kitchen table which belonged to Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis</a> was <a href="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/190959624297" title="">for sale on eBay last week</a>. In a few weeks time you can bid on <a href="http://www.billboard.com/articles/5785853/john-lennons-school-detention-sheets-to-be-auctioned" title="">John Lennon's school detention records</a> and earlier this year you could throw your hat in for <a href="http://consequenceofsound.net/2013/09/buy-eminems-childhood-home/" title="">Eminem's derelict childhood home</a> (the same one that featured on the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Marshall_Mathers_LP" title="">Marshall Mathers LP cover</a>).</p><p>Music and pop culture memorabilia is a multibillion-pound industry and plenty of people want to own an instrument played by their favourite artist, for example. I've got no qualms with that, nor someone buying a <a href="http://www.ebay.com/itm/True-Blood-Alex-Skarsgard-Signed-Script-for-Episode-610-/161143721946?" title="">signed copy of a True Blood script</a> or paying <a href="http://www.spin.com/articles/daniel-johnston-hi-how-are-you-film-kickstarter-drawing/" title="">Daniel Johnston $1,000 so he'll paint your portrait</a> and subsequently have enough funds to get a Kickstarter project off the ground. But increasingly the morbid mundanity of the objects appearing for sale raises the question, &quot;why?&quot;. It feels like the continuation of the modern obsession with knowing every trivial fact about an artist. It removes any sense of mystery or intrigue – two vital ingredients in <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/16/robert-johnson-sells-soul-devil" title="">rock'n'roll legend building</a>. And, more importantly, isn't making money out of the sale of a kitchen table where a man – who just happened to be a rock star – probably contemplated suicide, beyond the pale?</p><p>Ian's kitchen table on Ebay? FFS Where Will It End?</p><p>— stephen morris (@stephenpdmorris) <a href="https://twitter.com/stephenpdmorris/statuses/399860003324325888">November 11, 2013</a></p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/nov/14/morbid-pop-memorabilia-john-lennons-school-detention-records">Continue reading...</a>Pop and rockJohn LennonMusicUK newsEminemCultureThu, 14 Nov 2013 08:00:05 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/nov/14/morbid-pop-memorabilia-john-lennons-school-detention-recordsTracksAuction.com/AFP/Getty ImagesNotes dated 1955-56 detailing detentions given to the schoolboy John Lennon will be auctioned next week. Photograph: TracksAuction.com/AFP/Getty ImagesTracksAuction.com/AFP/Getty ImagesNotes dated 1955-56 detailing detentions given to the schoolboy John Lennon will be auctioned next week. Photograph: TracksAuction.com/AFP/Getty ImagesLanre Bakare2013-11-14T08:00:05ZIn praise of... peace activists | Editorialhttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/jul/31/in-praise-of-garry-davis
A man with no borders, whose philosophies and 'world passports' have guided the likes of Julian Assange and Edward Snowden<p>There is a certain kind of advocate of peace it is hard to take entirely seriously, yet who nevertheless cannot be dismissed. People like Garry Davis, Abe Nathan, and John Lennon <a href="http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/84h9n66t" title="">take the whole world to their bosom,</a> in the words of EB White. <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/29/us/garry-davis-man-of-no-nation-dies-at-91.html?pagewanted=all" title="">Davis</a>, who died last week, was a flamboyant member of that small tribe of men and women, both irritating and inspiring, who vow to rise above tribe. He discarded his US passport in 1948, travelled thereafter on his own &quot;world passport&quot;, and issued many thousands of such documents, recently sending them to Julian Assange and Edward Snowden. As with Abe <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/1991-05-31/news/vw-2721_1_abe-nathan" title="">Nathan's missions</a> in the Middle East, the practical effect was minimal, but such people neverthless change the chemistry of things. Even John Lennon and Yoko Ono, tongue in cheek announcing that their virtual nation of <a href="http://imaginepeace.com/archives/10573" title="">Nutopia</a> would &quot;have no laws other than cosmic&quot;, made a difference. Nationalism needs challenging, so let the gadflies gad.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/jul/31/in-praise-of-garry-davis">Continue reading...</a>John LennonYoko OnoJulian AssangeMediaEdward SnowdenWorld newsWed, 31 Jul 2013 00:17:05 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/jul/31/in-praise-of-garry-davisEditorial2013-07-31T00:17:05ZHow the Beatles' Love Me Do began the transformation of British music | Philip Normanhttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/oct/04/beatles-love-me-do-fifty-years
Fifty years ago a little-known band released a single that, while far from their greatest, heralded the start of a legendary era<p>In September 1962, the Beatles went into EMI's Abbey Road studios in north London to record their first single. The A-side was <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEEC-yhr_Ks" title="">Love Me Do</a>, one of the least original in John Lennon and Paul McCartney's burgeoning songbook. Through it ran a harmonica riff played by Lennon and shamelessly cribbed from Bruce Channel's recent hit, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4w1Mp6Mce4" title="">Hey Baby</a>. The lyrics were rudimentary: &quot;Love, love me do … you know I love you … I'll always be true.&quot; No one then recognised a sound with power to change the world.</p><p>Brian Epstein, the Beatles' newly appointed manager, had hawked the band around almost every other London record company before striking lucky with the small Parlophone label. Parlophone's boss, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Martin" title="">George Martin</a>, had previously been best known for releasing comedy records with Peter Sellers and the Goons, but was looking for a &quot;beat group&quot; in the mould of Cliff Richard and the Shadows.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/oct/04/beatles-love-me-do-fifty-years">Continue reading...</a>The BeatlesMusicPaul McCartneyJohn LennonGeorge HarrisonRingo StarrPop and rockCultureThu, 04 Oct 2012 15:08:33 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/oct/04/beatles-love-me-do-fifty-yearsPAThe Beatles, from left to right, Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Ringo Starr and George Harrison. Photograph: PAPAThe Beatles, from left to right, Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Ringo Starr and George Harrison. Photograph: PAPhilip Norman2012-10-04T15:08:33ZOnce we had anarchy in the UK. Now all we have is monarchy in the UK | Julie Burchillhttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/apr/08/julie-burchill-queen-diamond-jubilee
The Queen's diamond jubilee points up just how divided socially the country still is<p>People often yearn back to more innocent times, but more and more, as I get older, I find myself hankering after more jaded days. Surveying the simpering smorgasbord of crooning cretins queuing up to play the Queen's diamond jubilee concert in June, I long for the relative scepticism and sophistication of the mop-top Beatles.</p><p>It was back in 1963, at the start of their ascent, performing at the Royal Variety Performance attended by Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret, when John Lennon said: &quot;<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StnZ8x3m-Hg" title="">For our last number I'd like to ask your help. Would the people in the cheaper seats clap your hands? And the rest of you, if you'll just rattle your jewellery.</a>&quot; Yes, it was mild enough, but it did draw attention to the fact that, historically, the posh were only ever day-trippers in the world of popular culture. And, like the rich bitches who went to Harlem in ermine and pearls to get high on the sound of &quot;le jazz hot&quot; played by impoverished junkies, the monarchy was only really relevant to the purveyors of youth music as figures of fun. John Lennon would go on to boast about how the Fab Four had smoked dope in the bogs at Buck Pal and later even returned his MBE.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/apr/08/julie-burchill-queen-diamond-jubilee">Continue reading...</a>Queen's diamond jubileeMonarchySocial mobilityThe QueenJohn LennonUK newsSocietySex PistolsSat, 07 Apr 2012 23:06:58 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/apr/08/julie-burchill-queen-diamond-jubileeSuzanne Plunkett/ReutersPrince Harry's efforts in Brazil – playing beach volleyball to promote British trade and tourism – was apparently worth “a thousand politicians”. Photograph: Suzanne Plunkett/ReutersSuzanne Plunkett/ReutersPrince Harry's efforts in Brazil – playing beach volleyball to promote British trade and tourism – was apparently worth “a thousand politicians”. Photograph: Suzanne Plunkett/ReutersJulie Burchill2012-04-07T23:06:58ZImagine there's no Lennon… | Face to faith | Paul Handleyhttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/belief/2012/jan/06/imagine-theres-no-simplistic-religious-imagery
By changing the lyrics of Imagine, Cee Lo&nbsp;Green helped make clear that John Lennon's biggest hit is tosh<p>Something big, round and heavy fell with a clang in Times Square on New Year's Eve, and it wasn't the ball on the flagpole. Cee Lo Green <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOC5ufbqdGE" title="">sang a version of Imagine</a> in which he changed John Lennon's lyric &quot;and no religion, too&quot; to &quot;and all religion is true&quot;.</p><p>Outraged Lennon fans didn't need to use 132 of their Twitter characters to tell Cee Lo what they thought of him. On the other hand, perhaps they were just reminding him of his <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuck_You_%28Cee_Lo_Green_song%29" title="">most infamous song title</a>.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/belief/2012/jan/06/imagine-theres-no-simplistic-religious-imagery">Continue reading...</a>John LennonReligionWorld newsCee-Lo GreenMusicTwitterMediaInternetTechnologyFri, 06 Jan 2012 18:00:01 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/belief/2012/jan/06/imagine-theres-no-simplistic-religious-imageryPaul Handley2012-01-06T18:00:01ZGeorge Michael needs a lesson in karma | Mary Finniganhttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/mar/08/george-michael-karma
Michael, as John Lennon did before him, has fallen into the trap of thinking karma is instant. He'll have to wait until another life<p>George Michael's <a href="http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/uk/George-Michael-39being-jailed-over.6729119.jp" title="Scotland on Sunday: 'George Michael: prison sentence was 'karma''">self-castigating comments</a> on Radio 2's Chris Evans show on Monday appeared to convey genuine remorse – but they also exposed the singer's sketchy understanding of the laws of karma. He was talking about being imprisoned for a month last autumn, following his second conviction for driving while high on cannabis:</p><p>&quot;This was a hugely shameful thing to have done repeatedly, so karmically I felt like I had a bill to pay. I went to prison. I paid my bill.&quot;</p><p>&quot;The laws of karma are subtle and complex and it's simplistic to assume that you will undergo the consequences of actions in this life while you are still living it. For starters, one has to accept that karma is based in human consciousness being subject to a continuous cycle of death and re-birth – just like the cells in your body or leaves on a tree.&quot;</p><p>&quot;Karmic timelines are almost infinitely variable. Some take aeons before a cause matures into effect, others are on a shorter cycle, but in human terms they still move through over long periods.&quot;</p><p>&quot;Primary karmic causes, good or bad, are like seeds which are capable of reproducing the species of plant from which they come. But seeds need secondary causes such as light, moisture and air if they are to mature. Primary karmic causes, remaining as traces of past actions in the stream of consciousness of the individual, also need secondary causes if they are to mature into further actions or situations of the same kind.&quot;</p><p>&quot;In a previous life he was a ship's captain and because he was already highly evolved, he could see that one of his passengers was going to kill many people. So he killed this passenger – not simply to save the lives of others, but also to save the murderous passenger from the karmic consequences of the action he was planning.&quot; </p><p>&quot;The road to hell can very easily be paved with good intentions. This means that we are required to investigate cause and effect, so that we do not fall into the trap of justifying war for example. Compassion has to be allied with wisdom – ignorance is a refusal to examine our actions and the causes they will create.&quot;</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/mar/08/george-michael-karma">Continue reading...</a>George MichaelBuddhismJohn LennonMusicTue, 08 Mar 2011 14:07:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/mar/08/george-michael-karmaUniversal/PAGeorge Michael: 'karmically I felt like I had a bill to pay. I went to prison. I paid my bill.' Photograph: Universal/PAUniversal/PAGeorge Michael: 'karmically I felt like I had a bill to pay. I went to prison. I paid my bill.' Photograph: Universal/PAMary Finnigan2011-03-08T14:07:00ZWorlds apart musically, Fela Kuti and Lennon both radicalised a generation | Jonathan Freedlandhttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/nov/30/kuti-and-lennon-radicalised-a-generation
No governments are shaken by Snow Patrol; the FBI has no interest in Gary Barlow. Where are today's political popstars?<p>Winter's come early and people are dreaming of escape. Those who fancy a shot of African warmth in these chilly times, but without boarding a plane, should head to the National Theatre, where a chunk of London's South Bank has been transformed into a fabled slice of Lagos. The show is <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2010/nov/17/fela-review" title="Fela!">Fela!</a>, telling the story of Fela Kuti, the Nigerian musician, impresario, womaniser and all-round legend who invented a whole new style: Afrobeat. In the telling, the theatre has been transformed into Fela's downtown Lagos nightclub, the Shrine.</p><p>The combination of throbbing music, breathless dance, gorgeous costume and a 24-carat star in Sahr Ngaujah does a masterful job in transporting its audience a continent away. And yet later I found myself thinking of a wintry day somewhere else entirely, an event whose 30th anniversary falls next week: the death of John Lennon.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/nov/30/kuti-and-lennon-radicalised-a-generation">Continue reading...</a>TheatreMusicFela KutiJohn LennonJazzNigeriaRace issuesAfricaGary BarlowTue, 30 Nov 2010 21:30:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/nov/30/kuti-and-lennon-radicalised-a-generationc.Lions Gate/Everett / Rex Features/c.Lions Gate/Everett / Rex FeaturesRichard Nixon was so threatened by John Lennon's protests with Yoko Ono that he unleashed the Feds on him. Photograph: c.Lions Gate/Everett / Rex Featuresc.Lions Gate/Everett / Rex Features/c.Lions Gate/Everett / Rex FeaturesRichard Nixon was so threatened by Lennon's protests with Ono that he unleashed the Feds on him. Photograph: c.Lions Gate/Everett / Rex FeaturesJonathan Freedland2010-11-30T21:30:00ZDoctor Who's acid test | Nicholas Lezardhttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/apr/13/churchill-daleks-nazis-off-your-head
For popular culture, a dash of the psychedelic can be truly inspirational. When it comes to high art, drugs are pernicious<p>It is 1966. The Beatles' Revolver has just been released, and the most popular group in the world have been introducing their listeners to, among other things, the effects of LSD. Specifically, in the song She Said, She Said and, most unambiguously, in the sonic&nbsp;dreamscape of Tomorrow Never Knows. Nothing like it has ever been heard before in the popular arena. Unless you count the unearthly music created by the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/artists/39f0d457-37ba-43b9-b0a9-05214bae5d97" title="BBC">BBC's Radiophonic Workshop</a> for their new, hugely successful show, Doctor Who.</p><p>But there have been problems with that show: its star, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Hartnell" title="Wikipedia">William Hartnell</a>, is in poor health, and relations with the new production team are not at their best. The show must go on, but the lead actor has to be replaced. At around the same time John Lennon is turning his blown mind into permanent song, an idea of simple genius is hit upon: the doctor can regenerate, which in practical&nbsp;terms&nbsp;means that any actor of sufficient charisma and talent can take on the role. But for the audience to assent to this, it has to be taken seriously, the implications of what such a change might mean to a creature such as the doctor taken on board.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/apr/13/churchill-daleks-nazis-off-your-head">Continue reading...</a>MediaBBCBBC1Doctor WhoTelevision & radioTelevisionPink FloydMusicDrugsSocietyThe BeatlesCultureDavid HareJohn LennonTue, 13 Apr 2010 20:00:01 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/apr/13/churchill-daleks-nazis-off-your-headNicholas Lezard2010-04-13T20:00:01ZJohn Lennon's power for the people | Tariq Alihttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/feb/02/john-lennon-radical-left-tariq-ali
Whether or not Lennon did regret his associations with the radical left, I still remember his beliefs – and his voice – fondly<p>Maurice Hindle's comments (<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/feb/02/lennon-lost-interview-radical-left" title="Guardian: I interviewed John Lennon, and he was no ultra-left radical">'Response', The Guardian, 2 February,</a>) raise some interesting questions regarding John Lennon's politics. For the record, it might be useful to point out that it was Lennon who rang and wanted a conversation, a year after the 1969 exchange on the Beatle's album Revolution in the &quot;ultra-left&quot; <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Black_Dwarf_%28Ali%29" title="Wikipedia: Black Dwarf">Black Dwarf</a>. We met a number of times before the interview that Robin Blackburn and I conducted for the even more &quot;ultra-left&quot; Red Mole.</p><p>The day after the interview he rang me and said he had enjoyed it so much that he'd written a song for the movement, which he then proceeded to sing down the line: Power to the People. The events in Derry on Bloody Sunday angered him greatly and he subsequently suggested that he wished to march on the next Troops Out demonstration on Ireland, and did so, together with Yoko Ono, wearing Red Mole T-shirts and holding the paper high. Its headline was: &quot;For the IRA, Against British Imperialism&quot;.'</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/feb/02/john-lennon-radical-left-tariq-ali">Continue reading...</a>John LennonMusicBloody SundayThe BeatlesTue, 02 Feb 2010 16:30:01 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/feb/02/john-lennon-radical-left-tariq-aliGettyRadical and chic: John Lennon and Yoko Ono and with black power leader Michael X at his house in Holloway, 4 February 1970. Photograph: GettyTariq Ali2010-02-02T16:30:01ZResponse: I interviewed John Lennon, and he was no ultra-left radicalhttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/feb/02/lennon-lost-interview-radical-left
His association with 'serious revolutionaries' was brief and much regretted<p>You reported on the 1968 interview with John Lennon that I published in the New Statesman, which revolved around Lennon's &quot;furious&quot; response to a letter attacking him and his song Revolution for being &quot;unfavourably compared to the BBC radio drama Mrs Dale's Diary&quot; (<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2009/dec/17/john-lennon-lost-interview" title="Day in the life: Lennon's six-hour interview with student revealed">Day in the life: Lennon's six-hour interview with student revealed</a>, 17 December).</p><p>The article says Lennon was &quot;enraged&quot; by the letter, in &quot;Tariq Ali's radical journal&quot; Black Dwarf. As you say, &quot;The Beatles might have changed their image, but had lost none of their fire, [Lennon] insisted.&quot; And in &shy;January 1969, in his own letter to the magazine,&nbsp;Lennon expressed irritation at being &quot;ticked off&quot; by &quot;brothers in endless fucking prose&quot;.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/feb/02/lennon-lost-interview-radical-left">Continue reading...</a>John LennonThe BeatlesPop and rockMusicPoliticsPolitics pastTue, 02 Feb 2010 00:05:02 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/feb/02/lennon-lost-interview-radical-leftMaurice Hindle2010-02-02T00:05:02ZIn praise of… Paul McCartneyhttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/dec/04/in-praise-of-paul-mccartney
<p>At 16 he wrote of being an elderly 64, but at 67 Paul McCartney is still enjoying the spotlight – as well as a command of his vocal cords which makes for a remarkable contrast with croaking contemporaries such as Bob Dylan. Just as Hamburg starts belatedly taking pride in its role in Beatles history, we report today on Big Mac's <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/live-music-reviews/6716770/Paul-McCartney-at-the-Color-Line-Arena-Hamburg-review.html" title="return to the city">return to the city</a> to kick off his <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8319116.stm" title="European tour">European tour</a>. For decades Sir Paul languished in the shadow of the posthumously deified John Lennon. The fact that he obviously minded so much didn't much help – and nor, admittedly, did some of his solo records. He deserves, however, to be celebrated as the most fabulous songwriter in the Fab Four. An effortlessly fluent lyricist (&quot;Of every head he's had the pleasure to know&quot;) and on occasion a poet (Eleanor Rigby), his greatest gifts are in the harmonic department. Any musician delving into the McCartney back catalogue – from the seemingly straightforward All My Loving to the instantly distinctive I Will – finds quirky key shifts and playful surprise swaps between major and minor. His classical counterpart would be Schubert, with whom he shares the ability to weave complex melodies which nonetheless feel so natural that they sound discovered as opposed to invented. Indeed, the ballad Yesterday – still the world's most-covered track – entered the McCartney brain in such perfect form that for a time he believed he must have heard it somewhere before. We still need him, even if there's no need to feed him, now he's beyond 64.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/dec/04/in-praise-of-paul-mccartney">Continue reading...</a>Paul McCartneyJohn LennonThe BeatlesMusicPop and rockFri, 04 Dec 2009 00:05:39 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/dec/04/in-praise-of-paul-mccartneyEditorial2009-12-04T00:05:39ZRichard Williams: John Lennon's comments about the Beatles being more popular than Jesus were misconstrued in the first placehttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2008/nov/24/john-lennon-vatican-jesus
So the Vatican is over Lennon's comment about being more popular than Jesus – but it was misconstrued in the first place<p><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/nov/24/beatles-pope-vatican">The Vatican's announcement</a> that it has forgiven John Lennon for comparing the Beatles' popularity to that of Jesus Christ, communicated by its newspaper <a href="http://www.vatican.va/news_services/or/or_eng/index.html">Osservatore Romano</a> at the weekend, might appear to be the result of an enlightened, if belated, change of heart. Almost fondly, the paper's editorial writer describes Lennon's words as sounding &quot;like a boast by a young working-class Englishman faced with unexpected success&quot; before going on to praise the songs of Lennon and McCartney for providing &quot;a source of inspiration for more than one generation of pop musicians&quot;.</p><p>Although it is interesting to discover that there is a Beatles fan in the Vatican City, the announcement merely perpetuates and consolidates a misunderstanding that led, more than 40 years ago, to mass bonfires of Beatles records in the United States. Its persistence says a great deal about the twisted relationship between the media and human nature. </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2008/nov/24/john-lennon-vatican-jesus">Continue reading...</a>John LennonCatholicismThe BeatlesMusicReligionMon, 24 Nov 2008 13:32:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2008/nov/24/john-lennon-vatican-jesus/guardian.co.ukThe 1966 interview in the Evening Standard. Photograph: Graeme RobertsonRichard Williams2008-11-24T13:32:00ZJohn Lennon, the FBI and mehttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/dec/20/johnlennonthefbiandme
Now that the documents on the former Beatle have been released, I can understand why the information was classified.<p>After a 25-year legal battle, the UCLA historian, Jon Wiener has <a href="http://film.guardian.co.uk/features/featurepages/0,,1975235,00.html">managed</a> to secure the final 10 documents relating to the surveillance of John Lennon that the FBI were refusing to release.</p><p>I am absolutely delighted to read that J Edgar Hoover sent <a href="http://www.lennonfbifiles.com/after_hq33p3.html">a memo</a> to Nixon's bagman, HR Haldeman, informing him that Lennon was sympathetic to &quot;extreme leftwing activities in Britain&quot;. This was hardly a secret to anyone in Britain at the time since the interview Robin Blackburn and myself conducted with Lennon was published as a supplement in The Red Mole. Photographs of John and Yoko wearing Red Mole T-shirts appeared on the cover of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramparts_(magazine)">Ramparts</a> magazine in the states (aficionados can see one of them on the cover of the new edition of my <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Street-Fighting-Years-Tariq-Ali/dp/1844670295/sr=1-12/qid=1166631543/ref=sr_1_12/202-9421129-6869420?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books">book</a> Streetfighting Years: An Autobiography of the Sixties, which also contains the interview). What else? The released &quot;secret&quot; document says:</p><p><strong>&quot; ... Lennon implied he was sympathetic towards IMG which is a small Trotskyist group which owes allegiance to the United Secretariat of the Fourth International.&quot;</strong></p><p><strong>&quot;Immediately after it was published in Red Mole, Ali and Blackburn set about selling the interview to papers in western Europe, and about &pound;700 was realised from the sale of the rights of reproduction and these were retained by the International Marxist Group, presumably with Lennon's agreement.&quot;</strong></p><p><strong>&quot;It is believed that Lennon promised to advance sums of money to the IMG in order to finance the establishment of a leftwing bookshop and reading room in London. Despite a long courtship by Blackburn and Ali, as far as we know, no sum has been paid by Lennon for this purpose to them.&quot;</strong></p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/dec/20/johnlennonthefbiandme">Continue reading...</a>MusicThe BeatlesPoliticsCultureJohn LennonUK civil libertiesWed, 20 Dec 2006 16:46:46 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/dec/20/johnlennonthefbiandmeTariq Ali2006-12-20T16:46:46ZJon Wiener: He didn't have to do it. That's one reason he's still admiredhttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/dec/19/comment.film
The FBI campaign against John Lennon shows how far the state can go to deal with stars who refuse to toe the line<p>The Dixie Chicks got in trouble with rightwing talk radio. Boycotts followed, and lead singer Natalie Maines ended up publicly apologising to President Bush.</p><p>What happened to Lennon was of course worse. The turning point for the Beatles came with their 1966 US tour, when they first publicly criticised the war in Vietnam. As the decade wore on, Lennon was the target of increasingly aggressive media ridicule, especially when he began experimenting with new forms of political protest - such as declaring his honeymoon with Yoko Ono a &quot;bed-in for peace&quot;.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/dec/19/comment.film">Continue reading...</a>FilmUS newsMusicWorld newsCultureJohn LennonFBITue, 19 Dec 2006 00:05:46 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/dec/19/comment.filmJon Wiener2006-12-19T00:05:46Z